On Monday afternoon I was taking a scooter ride around the city after stopping by my local bike shop. My seat post assembly was a little wobbly, so I asked them to tighten it up for me. I watched them do it, so I was a little surprised that it was still slightly wobbly when I took off from their shop. About 20 minutes into the ride my seat post assembly suddenly snapped off from the base and I went tumbling into the street on a hard turn. I tried to stand up but my left leg wouldn't work to support me. 3 guys came over to stop traffic as apathetic drivers were still zooming around me, and helped me stand. I had to hop on my right leg as the left wasn't working, even though there was no sign of damage. I was thankful for being fully padded up, no pain, road rash, or abrasions. Someone had already called an ambulance, and a friendly bystander took my scooter into a convenience store as the ambulance came to whisk me away to, ironically, my regular hospital's ER. I started to protest the ambulance until I remembered that I have health insurance and am fully covered now, I'm still not used to that. They did a series of x-rays on the knee, and after seeing no broken bones, they fit me for crutches and a leg immobilizer, and referred me to an orthopedic surgeon for an MRI to assess any soft tissue damage. The knee started to bruise massively and swell through the night, but with relatively little pain. I even started using a cane and an ACE bandage, as the crutches and leg immobilizer seemed like overkill. I just got back from the ortho surgeon, and after a brief examination and without an MRI he said that he would need to operate soon to re-attach the four tendons I tore out of my quadricep, or I wouldn't be able to extend my leg again. I asked if he would like an MRI before scheduling surgery, and he smiled and said it wouldn't be necessary, as it was obvious to him. FUCK!!! So disappointing. But I'm glad they're doing it next week, as I have so many gigs scheduled for July. I have a gig on Friday which I think I may sub out of, and one on Sunday that will be easy as long as I sit (I always like to stand while performing). But I am very glad that - a. I was fully padded up, b. there is very little pain, and c. I can still play violin with no issues. Could have been SO much worse. Hope your week is going better than mine...
